


Maladie

by bookybookworm



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Identity Reveal, POV Alternating, Questionable Plot, Written before Season 2, literally written 2 years ago so dont expect much, probably some plot holes, so alya isnt rena rouge and chloe isnt queen bee, very little romanc
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-31
Updated: 2018-07-31
Packaged: 2019-06-19 13:20:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,842
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15510762
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bookybookworm/pseuds/bookybookworm
Summary: Marinette starts her morning feeling paranoid and cautious. This sense only increases when she walks into school. To make matters worse, a new akuma arrives, trapping Marinette and her classmates! And what's more, a new threat is looming. Will Ladybug and Chat Noir be able to save the day?





	Maladie

**Author's Note:**

> don't... expect much. i wrote this two years ago.

The moment Marinette Dupain-Cheng pushed aside her blankets and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes she knew that today was going to be a bad day. She shivered, forcing herself out of bed. She drew the curtains open with some amount of trepidation, sure that Hawkmoth himself was leering into her room, but there was nothing, not even clouds. But the horrible sense still stayed with her through the morning, leaving her slightly nauseous. She got up from the table, her breakfast half-finished.

“Honey? Do you not want to eat?” Sabine Cheng bustled over, resting her hand on her daughter’s shoulder. Marinette relaxed into her touch. “Are you okay?”

Marinette grimaced, then let the twisted expression drop from her face into a neutral expression. She sighed, trying to smile. “Just not feeling well, maman. I’ll go to school a bit earlier than usual, if that’s okay.”

Sabine drew Marinette in for a brief hug and kissed her cheek. “Of course, Marinette,” she said consolingly. “Call me if anything happens, okay?”

“Thank you, maman.” Marinette smiled gratefully. She wearily got ready for school, then left, shouting a goodbye to her parents.

The fresh air seemed to do her some good, though it did nothing to quell the bad feelings brewing inside. Her instincts – usually present during an akuma battle – told her that something was wrong, though she didn’t know what. She only hoped that she could get through school without a hitch.

“Tikki?” she asked, peering into her purse. No one was watching her, the streets of Paris thankfully empty of the busy morning rush.

The red and black spotted creature lifted her head. The remains of a half-eaten cookie lay in the bottom of the purse. “What’s wrong, Marinette?”

Marinette took a deep and calming breath in. She voiced her concerns to Tikki. “This makes me feel powerless. Maybe it’s just paranoia.”

“Oh, Marinette,” Tikki squeaked. “You’ll be just fine. And if something does happen, Ladybug can always save the day!”

Marinette chuckled, her bad mood receding somewhat. She closed her purse and hurried towards the school, hoping to actually arrive on time for once.

* * *

A sharp rapping on the door woke Adrien Agreste from his deep sleep. He yawned irritably and groaned as Nathalie’s strict voice came through the door, albeit slightly muffled. “Adrien! If you don’t get up now, you will be late for school. Your driver is waiting outside.”

Adrien groaned again. “I’m up, Nathalie,” he mumbled. “One minute.”

Plagg nudged his cheek, tickling him with his tail. “Kid. I’m hungry,” he said in his brash manner. “I need more camembert.”

“You know where it is,” Adrien mumbled. “It’s not that hard for you to get yourself,” he added, rolling out of bed and stumbling to the adjoining bathroom.

Plagg grumbled, but whizzed to the large desk and phased through a drawer. He came back out triumphantly, holding a large wheel of camembert.

“You’re going to get fat,” Adrien muttered, pulling on his clothes for the day.

“Kwamis don’t get fat.” Plagg swallowed a large bite of the cheese. “We’re omnipotent… gods. We have an immense amount of magic in our bodies.”

Adrien rolled his eyes and walked out of the door, calling for Plagg to follow him. The black kwami flew to his messenger bag, cheese and all.

“I hope you know that you’re the reason my homework smells like stinky cheese,” Adrien whispered as he climbed into the sleek silver car. The Gorilla paid the whispering no mind, and drove the teen model the five minutes to school.

As soon as Adrien climbed onto the school steps, he felt a malaise in the air, a change from the usual bad luck he feels due to his position as the wielder of destruction. “Do you feel that, Plagg?” he hissed, but Plagg simply shrugged and gulped down another sizeable piece of camembert.

Adrien rubbed his temples, trying to shake the feeling from his head. He was so caught up in this, in fact, that he failed to notice Marinette standing at the entrance of the school. His feet met a small object, and he winced, preparing for his forehead to meet the unforgiving ground-

But that never happened. Instead, his chest was supported by Marinette’s surprisingly strong arms and his head was merely inches from the floor.

“I’m so sorry!” Marinette yelled, righting Adrien and stepping back, hitting the door frame. “Are you sorry? I mean- uh… Are you okay?” She pulled on a pigtail anxiously.

Adrien grinned, pushing away his negative thoughts. “Thanks, Marinette. I _should_ be sorry, I wasn’t looking where I was going.”

Marinette floundered, clutching the handle on her purse tightly. “Ah, no! It was me, I wasn’t thinking!” She giggled nervously. “It’s sort of been a bad day today…” She trailed off, then seemed to remember who she was talking to. “Oh, I have to go. She took a step away from Adrien, then shook her head and hurried into the school.

“See you, Marinette!” Adrien shouted, lifting his hand. Marinette squeaked and almost tripped up the stairs. Adrien shook his head fondly.

* * *

Marinette slid to the ground in horror, wringing her hands together. She kept on humiliating herself in front of Adrien, and she had almost injured him! He might have fallen to the ground and his beautiful face could’ve been ruined, all because she wasn’t taking notice of her surroundings. Adrien would never want to talk to her again, and she’d have to transfer schools out of shame.

This event didn’t help at all with the horrible feeling growing in her chest. It had actually increased some as she walked into school, leaving her breathless and exhausted. Tikki had felt nothing, so Marinette put it off as mere tiredness. She had stayed up late the day before, stitching together a tear in her purse.

“Girl, what are you doing sitting on the bathroom floor? You know how dirty it is.” Marinette looked up to see her best friend, Alya, standing above her, hands on hips. “Actually, you don’t know how dirty it is. No one does. That’s the problem.”

Marinette clambered to her feet, brushing the seat of her trousers. “I just made a fool of myself in front of-”

“Adrien?” Alya finished for her, linking her arm in Marinette’s and leading her to their classroom. “That’s highly unlikely, I mean he looked normal when I saw him. No hatred for you whatsoever.”

“You saw him?” Marinette screeched, then lowered her voice as this garnered strange looks from the other students in the corridor. “Did he say anything to you?”

Alya smiled conspiratorially. “Yeah, he did.” At Marinette’s pleading look, she spoke once again. “He said hello to me. And do you know what else he said? Guess.”

Marinette whined pitifully, grabbing onto Alya’s hand. “Tell me!”

“He said, ‘How are you, Alya?’ And then I said I was fine, and ‘How are you, Adrien?’ He said he was fine, and then we both moved on with our lives.”

Marinette groaned, and considered collapsing to the ground there and then. Alya was the worst best friend.

Alya cackled. “Mari, you shouldn’t be embarrassed. Whatever you did, it can’t have been that bad.”

They reached the classroom, and walked inside, with Marinette breathing a sigh of relief that Adrien hadn’t arrived yet. They took their usual places, and waited for class to start.

* * *

In the end, class didn’t start. As soon as the last student walked in and waited for Mme Bustier to enter, the doors and windows slammed shut. All outside noise had stopped, and when the students rushed to the door, they found it locked. And nothing, not even the key that they found in the desk, could open it. The windows slowly darkened, until nothing could be seen. No one spoke.

“Akuma?” Alya whispered, breaking the silence. Adrien clenched his fists, and twisted the ring nervously around his finger. Was this the cause of the sense he had felt as he walked into the school? Was it dangerous? If it was Hawkmoth, Ladybug would surely arrive to fight the akuma, and he could surreptitiously slip out to transform into Chat Noir.

Nino quietly got up to switch on the lights. It looked as if day had changed into the night, but neither the moon nor the stars were visible.

Suddenly Aurore Beaureal’s voice drifted through the walls. “Hello?” she called. “Has the same thing happened to you?”

They did not need to ask for clarification. “Yeah, it has!” Alix yelled back, her voice being the loudest. “Don’t worry, we’ll figure something out!”

There was no reply, though Adrien could hear the students in the room next door talking to each other in urgent voices.

“Where are Ladybug and Chat Noir?” Kim asked, drumming his fingers on the table. “Shouldn’t they be here by now?”

Marinette stood up, using her Class President voice. “Well nothing dangerous has happened as of yet, so maybe Chat Noir – and, um, Ladybug – don’t know what’s happening.”

Alya whipped out her phone. “Well that’s easily sorted!” she said, her bright smile marred by the tremble in her voice. “I can put it on the Ladyblog. They’ll be sure to find out, and will be able to rescue us!”

I wouldn’t be too sure of that, Adrien thought grimly. He didn’t know if the spotted heroine even watched the Ladyblog.

Alya jumped up to the front of the classroom and waved at her camera. “Hey there, Ladybloggers,” she greeted shakily. “College Francois-Dupont are in a bit of a situation right now! It seems that… that we’re trapped here. We’re not sure if it’s an akuma-” Alya cleared her throat, “-but we would really appreciate Ladybug and Chat Noir’s help! Peace out.”

The too-wide smile slipped from the reporter’s face and Alya buried her head in her hands. She walked dejectedly to her seat, and slumped down over the table. Marinette rested a comforting hand on her back.

Adrien couldn’t help but admire her. Alya had no superpowers to speak of, and yet she was still able to put on a brave face and show her courage to the world, even when she was scared out of her mind. Even when an akuma threatened to destroy the entire city of Paris, and perhaps more, Alya was always there, camera in hand, ready to report the danger to the people. In some ways, she was braver than Ladybug and Chat Noir themselves.

Marinette was speaking to Alya. “You did great! Now at least one of the two will come and – and free us. Then we can get to safety.”

Alya leaned back in her chair. “You’re right. I just hate… not knowing things. It’s just an akuma, Ladybug and Chat Noir will defeat Hawkmoth as usual, and then I can go home and sleep for a year.”

A chuckle sounded from the rest of the class, and some of the tension disappeared from the room. Adrien looked around at Chloe, and saw her to be uncharacteristically silent. Sabrina seemed to notice as well, and was looking at her worriedly.

“I’m fine, Sabrina,” Chloe snapped a little too loudly. This attracted the rest of the class’ attention and Chloe rolled her eyes. “What are you all looking at?” Her comments lacked the usual vice, and everyone in the room knew it. Chloe Bourgeois, daughter of the Mayor, was scared, just like the rest of them.

* * *

Suddenly Ivan started to choke. Mylène shouted in terror as a thick smoke enveloped him, making him grow to impressive proportions. When the purple fog disappeared, Ivan was no longer himself, but a pile of rocks fashioned into the shape of a person. He had become Stoneheart once again.

Marinette rested a tentative hand on her purse, and bit her lip. Stoneheart – no, Ivan – didn’t seem to be doing anything but looking at his rocky hand in – what seemed to be – horror. Was he possessed by Hawkmoth again? Marinette didn’t even know that it was possible. However there was no rage, no purple light covering his eyes.

But if it wasn’t Hawkmoth causing this, then who was?

She looked around nervously to see the rest of her classmates edging away from Ivan, though he took no notice of them. Alya’s phone dangled limply in her grip; she made no move to switch it on.

Adrien was standing up, a hand gripping his messenger bag. His face was screwed up, his eyes calculating. What was he thinking? Marinette shook her head. This was no time to be focused on Adrien. Tikki nudged her hand. I know, Marinette thought, glancing worriedly at the doors and windows, which were still sealed.

The sound of gravel scraping against gravel sounded, and Marinette realised that Ivan was trying to speak. “What… what is happening?” he asked slowly, his neck crunching as he looked around.

Mylène, with a small frown on her face, approached Ivan. “Ivan? Are you… you’re not…?”

Chloe laughed maliciously. “I think what she’s trying to say is ‘did you surrender yourself to Hawkmoth _again_?’” Mylène gasped.

Marinette was about to do… something to Chloe, but Adrien got there first. “Look, Chloe, we’re all scared, but there’s no need to take out your frustrations on the rest of us. Ivan hasn’t done anything to you.” He raised his arms in a pacifying gesture, and Marinette stared at him gratefully as Chloe sat down with only a grumble.

Marinette touched her purse once again. She wondered if she should reveal herself as Ladybug right now and get it over with. But… she wouldn’t be able to handle the stares. Alya would hate her, and the rest of the class probably would too. She sighed. Where was Chat Noir? Did he not see Alya’s message?

Was the whole of Paris under darkness?

* * *

Nino jumped out of his seat. He started rubbing at his face and clenched his teeth. Adrien went over to his best friend at once. “Hey, are you okay?”

Nino groaned. “I’m – I’m just not feeling that great, dude,” he groused. “Just give me a minute.”

Adrien nodded doubtfully, but still stayed close to him. Was he going to turn into the Bubbler, as Ivan had turned into Stoneheart? So far, Ivan seemed to be his usual self, albeit larger and stonier than usual, but Adrien was still concerned.

And sure enough, the dark purple smoke erupted from nowhere and engulfed Nino. Adrien leapt back, and when he waved the smoke out of his eyes, Nino’s skin had turned blue and he had changed into a colourful costume.

“Well, shit,” the Bubbler – no, Nino, said. The class let out a half-hearted giggle.

“Nino?” Marinette asked carefully. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, bro. I just… I just feel weird, you know?”

Adrien gulped. “Is… is Hawkmoth talking to you?”

Nino shook his head violently, the bubble-like hat on his head shaking. “Nope. I don’t feel like I did when I was akumatised.”

Adrien sighed in relief, and closed his eyes for a brief moment. This wasn’t Hawkmoth, and it wasn’t even like the Puppeteer incident. Their friends were still their friends.

Alya stood up and once again walked to the front of the classroom. “I’m going to report some more, and maybe Ladybug and Chat Noir will come. They have to come.” She sounded hesitant. Adrien sighed. Was she losing confidence in the heroic duo? Maybe… maybe he should reveal himself.

Adrien turned his attention back to Alya as she gasped. Marinette ran over to her, fearing the worst; Lady Wifi was the third person akumatised in this classroom, and whoever was doing this seemed to be following the order.

Alya shook her head and laughed incredulously. “It’s not working! My phone… it isn’t working!”

Adrien fumbled for his own phone, and sure enough, the screen only displayed static. This was turning out to be one mess after another. How could Ladybug be contacted now? 

* * *

“Hurry it up, Maladie,” a woman growled, tapping the smooth floor with a heel.

Maladie’s blue-painted lips curved into a pout. “But Miss, it’s more fun this way,” she whined. “I get to see everyone’s faces! In excruciating detail.” A laugh escaped her.

The woman leant close to the akumatised victim, their noses almost touching. “There is no time for that. We must continue with the plan. Then you will get the… _happy ending_ that Hawkmoth promised.” She scoffed derisively.

Maladie glared at the ball in her hand, which flared a brief white, then changed back to its appearance of a dark cloud trapped in glass. “Fine. But now what do I do? Just wait?”

The woman smiled, patting the girl on her head. “Yes, my dear. Patience is a virtue.” She stalked off, flapping her wings once and soaring through the air, in the direction of College Francois-Dupont.

Back at the top of the Eiffel Tower, Maladie rolled her eyes. “I don’t think what you’re doing is very virtuous,” she muttered, before crossing her legs and waiting for the show to begin.


End file.
